Saturday night’s loss by four points at Northview does nothing to diminish how impressed we are with the Greenville varsity boys basketball team.

A win would have been nice as it would have kicked their season record to 19-0, but what they’ve done this year goes beyond numbers.

This team has given a town that’s had its share of knocks lately something in common to come together for and cheer on and be proud of. In small towns all across the country on Friday nights, families, friends and strangers gather in high school gyms to watch their teams compete.

This Greenville boys team is talented and fun to watch. They communicate with each other, anticipate great passes and rebounds and shots. And there’s not a ball hog among them. All part of the reason they’ve won our first league title since 1993.

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Going beyond boys basketball, though, we’ve got other athletes to celebrate, too. A wrestling team that made it to the state finals for the third year in a row. A girls basketball team that has competed well. And not to be forgotten is the dance team, which partnered a week ago with a group of gutsy high school guys to perform a clever and amusing halftime show.

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While it’s easy to get caught up in records and numbers, we just wanted to step back for a moment and acknowledge how proud we are of our student athletes who work and study hard. These days when headlines scream about the trouble kids get into and fighting during athletic events and racial slurs being cast on the court, we’re proud to be represented so well by our local teams.

If you want to see some of this magic in action, you might consider taking a trip to Rockford High School on March 5 to support our boys basketball team in the first round of the district tournament. It’s sure to be well worth the ride.

Editorial opinions are the consensus of The Daily News editorial board.

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